REALITY CHECK: To all the jingoes beating the war drums to join in the fight of the Ukrainians against their Russian invaders.....

 

Before we throw down in a nuclear confrontation with what almost all in the media want us to believe is an isolated mad man, who is losing his influence every day.....

Let's review who might really be LOSING ITS/ THEIR INFLUENCE every day

We have engaged in economic warfare against Russia as part of our reponse to their invasion of  Ukraine.  We have been told how much immediate hardship that has caused to Russia.

Much less reported is how much immediate hardship that has caused to US  (as in both "us,"  ie., "the people" and the "USA" as a nation).....

The POTUS calls much of it "The Putin gas hikes" or "The Putin caused inflation" ---  but what it really seems to be is what almost everybody refers to as the "little pain, which the American people must suffer" for their support of freedom in the Ukraine.....

The problem is that our economic warfare against Russia is just a skirmish in the much bigger undeclared Ecomomic World War being waged against America by China  ---  a war that China has been winning  ---  and is now about to escalate with a major quantum jump involving concepts like "petro-dollars" and "petro-dollar financing," and "the world-wide reserve currency".....

The biggest international geopolitical, security and economic news yesterday was reported like this:

"Saudi Arabia Considers Accepting Yuan Instead of Dollars for Chinese Oil Sales ---  Talks between Riyadh and Beijing have accelerated as the Saudi unhappiness grows with Washington"    --- Wall Street Journal & 

                                                      Fox Business News

"Yuan Jumps After Report on Saudis Weighing Its Use in Oil Deals"    --- Bloomberg News

"India reportedly explores yuan in oil trade with Russia...  ---  Reported move highlights growing frustration over US sanctions"      --- Global Times

It was just a few days ago, that the Wall Street Journal said this:  

"The U.S. is sitting on top of a horizontal empire, capitalism’s self-organizing, incentive-based structure with its layers of value. It’s not the Marxist mush of “to each according to his needs.” You gotta earn your spot. Think of the U.S. dollar as the thread or even the duct tape that binds the layers together. Nearly 60% of the $12.8 trillion in world-wide currency reserves are dollars. Is America’s “exorbitant privilege”—the almighty dollar as the world’s leading reserve currency—under threat? Should you even care?...   Sanctions have bitten Russia. A huge chunk of its $630 billion in foreign reserves are frozen. Oligarchs’ yachts have been seized. Visa, Mastercard and American Express suspended service in Russia. Apple and Google Pay stoppage stranded cashless travelers on Moscow’s metro. From Netflix to Nike, voluntary sanctions are in force....  Was cutting Russia out of the global financial system the right move? Naysayers think this is the beginning of the end of the dollar as the reserve currency because Russia will cozy up to China and adopt the yuan or pivot to cryptocurrencies. China may start dumping dollars. In fact, since 2014 China and Russia have severely reduced their dependence on the dollar for bilateral trade...."  ("Is the Dollar in Danger?  ---  China and Russia may be working to take away America’s ‘exorbitant privilege.’ "  by Andy Kessler, 3/13/2022,  Opinion/ Inside View   [https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-dollar-in-danger-china-russia-ruble-yuan-reserve-currency-foreign-sanctions-11647195545]).

This is Mr. Kessler's conclusion:  "....  Sanctions on Russia won’t endanger the dollar right away, but wars are when transitions occur. America shouldn’t risk its reserve-currency status. Inflation really will run rampant if other countries start dumping dollars. America’s privilege is worth maintaining—easier said than done."  

That is far from a chest-thunping quote.....  It is circumspect and well-grounded in reality.